Cellular Wireless Managed Services

Pursuant to the requirements of the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) as implemented by the Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation Overhaul (RFO) 6.103 (Class Deviation 25-111) and in accordance with the requirements of RFO 6.104, the justification for the use of the statutory authority under RFO 6.103 is justified by the following facts and rationale required under RFO 6.104-1 as follows:

1. Agency and Contracting Activity.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Procurement Operations (OPO), Science and Technology Acquisitions Division (S&TAD), proposes to enter a task order modification on the basis of other than full and open competition.

1. Nature and/or Description of the Action being Approved.
   1. Nature of action:

DHS intends to issue a modification to existing task order 70RSAT25FR0000035 to extend the period of performance by one month on a non-competitive basis. WidePoint Integrate Solutions Corporation has the capability and the required resources to continue to perform services.

1. 1. Name and address of the contractor: Widepoint Integrated Solutions,  11250 Waples Mill Rd, Suite 200, Fairfax, VA 22030.

Background information about the requirement.

This modification to existing task order 70RSAT25FR0000035 will maintain support services to DHS S&T Information Technology Services Division (ITSD) in the areas of cellular services, associated cellular equipment and vendor support services. The task order includes labor and materials necessary to assist DHS S&T ITSD fulfill its mission. The task order has a period of performance that began on August 19, 2025, and will expire on August 18, 2026, unless extended. Market Research for the recompete of 70RSAT25FR0000035 was previously completed. Due to a post award protest under the DHS Cellular Wireless Managed Services (CWMS) 3.0 Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract to WidePoint, new task orders are prevented from being issued under the CWMS 3.0 IDIQ.     

1. Description of Supplies/Services.

The task order provides essential cellular services and devices for approximately 1,500 staff in Washington and five labs supported by S&T. These services are critical for daily communications, mission-critical operations, and ensuring connectivity for all personnel.

1. Identification of Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition.

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1) implemented by the FAR Subpart 6.103-1 (FAR Class Deviation 25-11) entitled “Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.”

1. Demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited:

The Widepoint cellular services contract requires an extension of one month from August 19, 2026, through September 18, 2026. Widepoint is the current contractor for this requirement, and they possess the established infrastructure, active lines of service, and direct provisioning capabilities necessary to support approximately 2,000 DHS S&T staff members across multiple nationwide locations.

Transitioning to a new contractor for a brief one-month period would bring unacceptable risk to ongoing DHS S&T operations. Attempting to swap providers for an interim month would cause severe operational disruptions, potential security risks, and a significant loss of continuity in emergency and daily communications. Anything other than a short-term extension of the existing contract would seriously and materially compromise the operational readiness of S&T and the mission of DHS. See below specific critical activities the current contractor will perform, along with the risks associated if another contractor were to perform these activities:

Enterprise Architecture (EA) Alignment and Maintenance Critical Activity:

The incumbent contractor plays an essential role in guiding and supporting the provisioning, distribution, technical support, and ongoing maintenance of a comprehensive, enterprise-wide cellular and mobile device fleet for S&T. This work ensures that S&T's telecommunications portfolio remains fully functional, secure, and compliant with DHS-specific security standards and mobile device management (MDM) protocols, while maintaining direct continuity of critical communication links for approximately 2,000 personnel.

Risk if Performed by Another Contractor:

If these mobile fleet management and cellular provisioning responsibilities were transitioned to a new contractor for a one-month period, S&T would face critical operational disruption and immediate service outages. The incumbent vendor has built, mapped, and actively maintains S&T’s entire cellular infrastructure, directly managing the active lines of service, device profiles, and billing configurations for approximately 2,000 personnel.

 A new contractor would face an impossible timeline to transition these services without a severe gap in communication. A transition would require the procurement and physical distribution of new SIM cards, coordinate device re-enrollments in Mobile Device Management (MDM) software, and establish new billing profiles with major telecommunications carriers—a process that typically takes several months to execute.

Forcing a transition for a single month is structurally impractical and cost prohibitive. Any lapse in cellular continuity would immediately disable vital communication lines for S&T staff and laboratory personnel, resulting in severe operational blind spots, safety risks, and an inability to execute day-to-day mission-critical tasks.
 

Widepoint Helpdesk and Device Support Critical Activity:
 

The contractor is responsible for the daily operation of a dedicated cellular helpdesk, providing Tier 1 and Tier 2 technical support for all S&T mobile devices and services. This includes troubleshooting cellular connectivity issues, coordinating device replacements and upgrades, managing cellular inventory, activating roaming or international features, and providing rapid-response, after-hours emergency support to ensure continuous mobile communications for S&T personnel.

Risk if Performed by Another Contractor:
 

If another contractor were to assume these helpdesk responsibilities for a one-month period, S&T would face immediate service disruptions, extensive delays in troubleshooting critical connectivity issues, and a complete breakdown in mobile asset accountability.
 

The current contractor, Widepoint, possesses unique, integrated technical systems designed specifically to manage S&T's cellular inventory. They utilize specialized, proprietary portals that are directly integrated with major telecommunications carriers to track device assignments, monitor data usage thresholds, and manage equipment lifecycles. A new contractor would lack access to these established carrier-linked portals, custom ticketing integrations, and automated shipping workflows, halting device replacements and leaving users with broken or malfunctioning equipment without a path for rapid resolution.

Additionally, Widepoint's helpdesk staff possesses deep institutional knowledge of S&T's specialized profiles, MDM enrollments, and user communication preferences across all laboratories and headquarters offices. Transitioning this highly specific support desk to another provider for a single month would require lengthy staff training, carrier onboarding, and system configurations. This would inevitably lead to severe gaps in customer support, missed SLAs, and a loss of property accountability for valuable government devices.

If this contract is not extended while the protest is resolved, S&T personnel will lose the critical technical support required to maintain active mobile lines of communication, directly jeopardizing the agency's broader operational missions. Based on market research and administrative constraints, Widepoint is the only responsible source capable of satisfying these agency requirements without a catastrophic lapse in daily operational capability.

A review considered several alternatives; however, these alternatives were not capable of providing DHS with necessary services to meet ITSD needs during the required period of performance.

If this Justification & Approval (J&A) is not approved, the current Widepoint cellular contract will expire, resulting in an immediate and complete shutdown of mobile services for approximately 2,000 DHS S&T personnel nationwide. The consequences of such a service blackout would severely impact S&T operations and broader DHS missions in the following ways:

• Complete Loss of Mission-Critical Communications:

S&T staff, including leadership, program managers, and field researchers, would immediately lose access to cellular voice, data, and mobile email services. This would halt real-time coordination, disrupt daily decision-making, and sever vital communication links between S&T headquarters and active laboratory environments across the country (including New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Alabama, and Florida).
 

• Jeopardized Laboratory Operations and Field Research:
  
  S&T laboratories conduct sensitive scientific testing and operational evaluations that rely heavily on mobile-enabled data transmission and secure field coordination. A sudden loss of connectivity would stall ongoing research, delay key deliverables to DHS operational components, and disrupt time-sensitive test schedules.
   
• Severe Security and Information Assurance Vulnerabilities:
  Without active contract coverage, S&T would lose the ability to manage and secure its mobile device fleet through Mobile Device Management (MDM) systems. Security officers would be unable to push critical security patches, monitor compliance, or remotely wipe lost or stolen devices, exposing the entire DHS S&T network to severe data security risks and unauthorized access.
   
• Loss of Property Accountability and Support:
  The dedicated Widepoint helpdesk would cease operations immediately. S&T would have no mechanism to process broken or malfunctioning devices, manage cellular inventory, or track equipment. This would severely harm property accountability, degrade audit readiness, and leave personnel with non-functioning hardware and no technical recourse.
   

In summary, failing to approve this temporary one-month bridge extension would result in a total communications blackout across the Directorate, directly jeopardizing S&T’s primary mission to deliver secure, innovative technology solutions to DHS operational components.

1. Description of Efforts Made to Ensure that Offers are Solicited from as Many Potential Sources as is Practicable

A competitive procurement process for the long-term follow-on cellular services IDIQ contract is under protest.  This Justification and Approval solely covers a temporary, one-month bridge extension necessitated by this protest. The extension is required to maintain the continuity of critical services while the protest is formally addressed and resolved.

Because this specific action is exclusively for a 30-day continuation of already-active telecommunications lines, mobile device management profiles, and integrated helpdesk support for approximately 2,000 personnel, it is not practicable or feasible to solicit offers from other potential sources.

As detailed in previous sections, transitioning to a new telecommunications vendor requires significant lead time to provision new accounts, distribute hardware (SIM cards/devices), and re-enroll devices in the agency's Mobile Device Management (MDM) platform. It is physically and administratively impossible to solicit, award, and transition cellular services to a new vendor for a one-month period without causing a total lapse in mission-critical communications.

Therefore, the incumbent contractor, Widepoint, is the only source capable of providing seamless, uninterrupted service for this brief interim period.